Ruth Yarrow

Ruth Yarrow first came to Ithaca in 1964 for graduate student studying ecology at Cornell University.  She and her husband Mike Yarrow raised their family in Ithaca 1979 – 1997 while Ruth organized the Tompkins County Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign and worked as a naturalist at Cornell and the Cayuga Nature Center.  When their children fledged, Mike and Ruth moved to Seattle to work on peace, justice and environmental issues for 18 years.  After Mike’s death, both children and their families already returned to Ithaca. Ruth later  joined them in 2015.  She now works mostly on racial justice issues and helps care for her grade-school-age granddaughter. She has enjoyed painting watercolors for decades and sells paintings and notecards to raise funds for organizations including Southside Community Center.